Does anyone else hate smartphones – or cell phones in general?

(I’m 43. Maybe this is an “old man rant”, but I need to get this off my chest.)

I don’t necessarily hate the object itself, but the way people are obsessed with their phones I find extremely annoying. It seems that manners have all but disappeared. I can’t count how many times a day a converstation with a co-worker, friend or family member is interrupted by a phone call or text. 9 times out of 10, rather than postponing a reply to their phones, they immediately cut the conversation short as if the message is a matter of life or death.

I’m somewhat of a solitary introvert, but when I’m out in public people seem to be more interested in scratching around on their smartphone screens instead of interacting with friends or being aware of their surroundings. (Many have seen the viral vid of the woman who walked into the mall fountain while texting on her phone. I’m sure this happens more often than you think.) I recently went to a sports bar to watch the UFC. Before, and even during the televised event, the majority of people were locked onto their smartphones – not even paying attention to the fights or talking to their friends. Why even bother to go out in public?

Lastly, it seems that smartphone “apps” have replaced basic skills – and even intelligence. My daughter is 19. When she goes on a trip, I insist that she use a map to plan her route before she leaves. She thinks this is silly because she has a GPS on her iphone – and besides, “none of my friends use maps.”

Don’t get me wrong – I have a cell phone. It’s a flip phone. I can’t tell you what kind it is besides that I have Verizon service. I use it for phone calls and a few texts. However, I keep these to a minimum and try to be polite about how I use it in public. People are more important to me than some gadget in my pocket. I will admit that I saw an app on my daughter’s phone that I thought was pretty cool. It was a “star chart” thing that showed the location and position of the stars, as well as the moon and sun during any time of day or night. It’s not enough to make me want an iphone – I just thought it was pretty amazing. If my interest in astronomy grows more, I may invest in a telescope and other equipment and kick it old school.

Does anyone else see things this way, or am I just being a grouchy old fart?

One of the most content people I know is a long time friend ,he’s NEVER been in the internet and has a cell phone he carries for emergencies only. He owns his own small business and a hobby farm . He’s also one of the busiest people I know . I feel if your on your phone all the time you missing out on the ”now real life” in front of you . people are always looking at there phone . My man Lewis Black talks about how smart phones are like a drugs . http://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2012/12/04/1746537/

I completely agree, and I don’t think it’s an “old man rant” lol. I do think people focus too much on their smartphones and engage less with the actual real life going on in their environment. I find it so rude – although I generally feel like the only one – when others text during conversation. This used to be super bad manners like not that long ago.

Some of my recent experience has kind of supported this sense that smartphones are kinda making people worse. I’m 28, and graduated highschool about 10 years ago. “Back in my day” we would get suspended if we brought a cell phone to school. Well, I started substitute teaching 9-12th grades a couple years ago. Mostly I take the arts classes. I work at an affluent school, and the students have a lot of tech, including ipads for every one. I cannot believe how radically different things are just in the last decade. The art students really struggle to come up with original ideas, and have almost no hand-eye coordination. Freshmen art students struggle with projects I did in elementary school(!) I can’t simply blame the tech, but I – along with other teachers – feel like it’s kind of a sea change in how kids minds are developing.

I hate people who are constantly checking their cellphones. I have just a plain old cellphone and use it for emergencies. I wish I didn’t have a phone, because I have always hated talking on one. I am an introvert, and PROUD OF IT! I think there is just too much talking going on. Does anyone listen? Nope! I have been on even been on dates where the lady whipped out her cell phone. RUDE! The only good reason to have a smartphone, in my opinion, is GPS. Other than that, I think their stupid!

I’m 20 years old and I agree with what you said. I myself have a smartphone, I more or less “abuse” it at home but never when I am outside with friends. They don’t seem to be on the same page though… they always flip their phones out at some point and have their eyes glued to it for some time, ignoring the surroundings. And I’m the only one who just casually checks if someone has tried to contact me on the phone, decide to reply after I’ve returned home and that’s it.

It frustrates me when people just let their impatience lead them and reply on the second as if it were a matter of life or death.

It frustrates me that those goddamn smartphones are controlling us. They sure are smart.

No man i feel your pain, i’m 17 now, i was born in 1999, and things are getting worse everyday, i prefer older things over new and modern things, i don’t know, i see that people in the old times were happier than how people today are, we have a bunch of gadgets and apps in the smartphones, i don’t have one too, but i feel that i’m going to be obligated to buy one, i would rather buy a 2000’s cellphone, or a 90’s or 80’s cellphone, i feel more connected to older things, i know that there are cool and kind people of my generation out there, but they doesn’t appear in the world, the biggest part of my generation (the teens that love Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus musics and have 15 to 18 years old) are faggots that doesn’t want anything in life but to be in their smartphones and videogames (i will admit that i love some games out there, but i don’t want to be with my 30’s under my mom’s roof playing a new generation videogame), well… I feel sad, specially that the time i had with people living their lives was very short, it was my childhood, back in the early 2000’s people still lived, everything downgraded morally around 2008 or 2009, when smartphones started their heist on the marketing.

I don’t want to be seen as a life’s veteran, because i’m not, i’m just 17 years old claiming that the times were better before the 2010’s, i know that they were even better in the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, 60’s, 50’s, 40’s…
But yeah man, i agree in everything you have said, the smartphones are affecting my generation, but people around their 20’s or 30’s are the most affected demographically according to age, i have an older brother that is 23 years old, he was born in 1992, and he is addicted to his smartphone. Don’t get me wrong, i don’t want to judge anyone, that thing just bothers me, the sad part, is that we must learn to live in this society, and things are still well, i fear the future, where they will replace everything that can be done with a smartphone, i fear even televisions being replaced, but i don’t know if that would be done, only time will tell…
The problem is not just the smartphone, but the social media too, specially Facebook… People spend their day in this thing, just putting their selfies or ridiculous “philosophical” quotes, like if they are some kind of greek philosopher…

Now what bothers me too is that our ancestors were great people and they were discovering the world, the land, the seas, they were warrios, or they were historians, or they were teaching the blind people, they were everything but selfie takers…

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Zombies, a convenient way to interact with the world by not interacting with it. A way to look at the scenery through a screen without lifting your head. A way to talk to people without them being there. A way to ignore the people around you without having to excuse yourself for ignoring the people beside you. A justification for being rude but ultimately a way to view the over complicated world via a managed visual and auditory presentation.

i would hazard a guess that at least 75% off all communication is meanies, pointless and clouds the meaningful, information filled stuff. A way to augment the emptiness of existence with the justification of pseudo popularity and the personal creation of you actually being needed, or important.

I live in Kent and commute to London on a daily basis . I have found myself astonished with people and their Smartphone’s . some people it may seem cannot live without them . a Lady on the Tube the other day apparently could not find her Phone and was almost having a full on panic attack !!!!.

Also people on the train you would normally strike a conversation with are unapproachable , head down engrossed in their Smartphone . it’s really sad , annoying and quite rude.

The art of conversation is dying , something we cannot change . My Father in law has never had a mobile phone and I envy his peace .

Let’s not forget than when BOOKS were first introduced they were considered something to be feared. Information that can replace human minds that people can stick and convert people to different ideas. ‘Stick your head in a book don’t appreciate life etc etc’. Basically the answer is how you apply things is what matters. I think we can all agree books have made the world a better place. I have absolutely no problem with smart phones I can carry a bunch of books (ebooks) on my phone and not have the inconvience of carrying a big book everywhere. Contacting friends has never been easier and so much time has been saved to do what’s important. Sure there are people who are mindlessly surfing the web but technology has actually increased and will continue to incrase the threshold for intellegence, flow of information and knowledge. It’s all about the people you assosiate with, the people I respect most will chuck there phone in there pocket after using it to find directions / text to meet up with me then not fiddle with it ONCE. I can think of a chick who uses instagram for everything but when I came to meet her she took a picture of our food and was done with it. I also know people who do just do there own thing when there in a group setting and they are pretty boring people and should make better choices but the problem is definitely exaggerated.

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I totally agree – to push it further social media apps make everything worse. They are suppose to help you connect with friends when you are unable to. However, people just use them all the time; to the point where you are meeting up with people so they can comment about it on social media rather for the experience itself

I’m 26 years old and I COULDN’T AGREE MORE! It’s more so a disturbing phenomenan for me because I can say it’s a habit that I am a victim of. It’s almost as if I’m under control by my smart phone. I’m frequently checking my social media, email and text solely because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) which is a common reason why adoescents and young adults, like myself are always in their phones. I hate it so much that I look forward to losing my cell phone because when I do, I find myself being in the moment a lot more, and honestly enjoying life at a more intense level of conciousness. But again, I completely concure with your feelings towards Smart phones and the fact that their making us dumb because of word prediction and auto correct—– I’ve forgotten how to spell simple words. I really need to ditch my phone.

nail on the head. Im 29 and reminisce of the days before cell phones. I miss being able to not have a leash in my pocket… and a rotary telephone, and a message on my counter when i got in from playing outside that a friend called looking for me… and the 4 sessions of hone tag you played with someones answering machine before you actually SPOKE to eachother… because welll… text messages didnt exist.

This and all of the above posts are completely right and make very solid notes.

Not to mention that exactly these new children ‘toys’ are the reason we see more and more KIDS with glasses since their 10’s … This has never been!

I will get rid of my smartphone at the end of this month – and I am not getting any other phone, even not a ‘normal’ phone. These things interfere with our brain waves and disconnect us from this world.